The Best RIO
by Jeneral2885
Summary: This story attempts to fill a gap in the JAG universe. May be slightly AU with a change of character especially with Tom Boone. Note: No Harm, No Mac, No Meg, No Sturgis, No Bud and Harriet (yucks!) none of the main characters. So no lawyer stuff here.
1. Chapter 1

_This story hopes to close another gap in the JAG universe. Here there's no Harm, Mac, Meg or any of the any other main JAG characters. No law room fighting, Article 32 hearing or JAGMAN investigations. Its plan Naval Aviator/pilot stuff, well as best as I can gather info on. Let's see how it progresses. _

**USS Seahawk**

**Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean **

**End of December, 1995**

"Enter," the voice said. Lieutenant Jack "Jacko" Painter and Lieutenant Adam "Ray" Wilson did so and came to attention. Captain Thomas Boone, CAG of Carrier Air Wing Sixteen, sat behind his desk, hand grapping a Mount Blanc pen but not moving. "At ease. I still don't know what the hell happened, gentlemen. It's as if fate decided to hit both of you."

The two Naval Flight Officers, or F-14 Radar Intercept Officers (RIOs), spied a momentary glance at each other and then faced the CAG again. It was weeks after their almost fatal accident and both of them only just diagnosed by the carrier medical officer of a defective eyesight condition. To cut a long story short, "Jacko" was performing a pre-flight check when gas spewed out of his Tomcat and initially blinding him. "Ray" was nearby and immediately rushed to pull him away but not before he got a blast of the gas too. For both of them it was only a momentarily bit of pain and they were cleared to fly the next day. The gas leak was written off as a simple malfunction. It was week later on a routine flight that both RIOs started having blurry eyes and developing swollen eyes. According to the senior medical officer, it was some rare eye infection that needed medical treatment a carrier could not provide.

"And damnit it it's not just you guys I'm losing. It will be your skills. Jacko and Ray you two of my best RIOs. I was going to post you two and your drivers to TOP GUN. Instead, now I've to transfer you to freakin' Bethesda instead. Bloody Hell." Keep his distance from them and remembering the advice not to even shake hands, Captain Thomas Boone gave a smile with a regrettable look and said, "God Speed gentlemen. Hopefully the docs on shore can cure you and return you to this Air Wing."

The two NFO left and Boone headed out stamping on the ladders and decks as he did so. Other personnel quickly "made a hole" for the moustached and season veteran, lest they turn his anger into a booming shouting. Less than five minutes later, he barged through the doors marked "Office of Personnel" and nearly collided into the young Lieutenant and his coffee cup. Within much of a greeting, Tom Boone literally boomed, "So when are they giving me replacement RIOs? And it better not be just ASAP, cause I got an Air Wing exercise coming up and no one will reduce the manpower readiness of my Air Wing, eye infection or not!"

"Sir..." the Lieutenant handling personnel posting and transfer stammered. "Two RIOs are coming in as you speak. They'll be arriving on the next COD, in uh fifteen minutes time." His hand shook as he passed the folder over.

Nearing tearing it open, the CAG exploded. "Jacko and Ray are being replaced by women?!"


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for the initial reviews. OK, so I didn't mention Skates in the first chapter but the character pairing is a dead give away. As noted, there's not going to be a Harm/Mac/Meg or any JAG in this FF at all. Pure Skates and Tom Boone. _

_I'm not privy to all the training and qualifications of F-14 RIOs and pilots or the actual avionics and such. What is written here thus may diverge from reality. Correct me on key aspects please eg. drones for aerial training, dogfighting terms and manoeuvres. _

**Over the Pacific Ocean**

**The Same Time**

"Folks, this is the pilot speaking. Brace yourselves for landing." Lieutenant Elizabeth Hawkes, fresh out of NFO training, did so, glancing at her friend, Lieutenant Mary Watkins. Both RIOs were just on their leave after being "winged" when they received orders to be dispatched to the USS Seahawk. Both of them were best friends since high school, and both enrolled at the NROTC at their respective colleges. Having a passion for flying, both women secured places at flight school, however, they were disappointed that the applications for Naval Aviator were full. Thus they choose the next best option: Naval Flight Aviator. Both of them ended up training as F-14 Tomcat RIOs, two women amongst a whole gaggle of men. Their school, NROTC and flight training life were probably the only similarities between the two. Elizabeth, Liz to her parents and Beth to her friends, was a short five foot one with brown hair and a slim build. Given her diminutive appearance, she always had to fight for her rights, whether it was to get the book from the highest shelf or to enter the school's sports team. Beth made up for her short height by participating in many outdoor activities and sports. As much as she sailed and ran, Beth remain relatively the same size and built. Mary on the other hand, was at least six inch taller than her friend and was a pure blonde. Yes, that meant she was the girlish type and when away from the military, she was always with her girl friends, window shopping and purchasing the latest cosmetics and clothes. Her room was filled with all the female brands so much that she had to borrow money from friends and family. "Mary, one day you'll either have to save money or rein in your spending," Beth often cautioned her, albeit to no avail.

BUMP! The C-2A Greyhound caught the arrestor wire and landed. "Oh gosh, I can't believe we're actually here," Mary commented. Elizabeth Hawkes simply nodded and then waited for the aircraft to taxi before unbuckling her safety straps. Exiting, both NFOs were greeted by a blonde LTJG with curly hair. "Welcome aboard the Seahawk, I'm the PAO, Lieutenant Emily Horricks," she smiled and shook hands with both. "Am I personally glad to have both of you here."

"And why is that, Lieutenant?" Beth asked.

"Well, ma'am, you're increasing the female population on this ship, even though by two. There's less than a hundred girls over here and most of them are enlisted. And the rest of us officers hold minimalm non-combat roles. You're the first female officers in a combat role here."

"Well, we'll definitely make waves then," Beth said, grapping her bag tightly as the carrier deck wind was ferocious. Next to her, Mary was wincing as the wind struck her face rapidly like needles thrown at tremendous speeds. The PAO responded to Beth but her words were drown out as a F-14 caught the number two wire. At the from of the mighty carrier, two F/A-18s were being readied for take off and to their right, a Seahawk helicopter was landing. They had just entered the real world of carrier operations.

"What did you say?" Mary queried, shouting over the noisy deck.

"I said, you'll face many brick walls and potholes before you can make waves ma'am," LTJG Horricks said, leading them into the mighty nuclear-powered ship. "Equality rules and such may be one thing, but the Navy and practically the whole armed forces is a man's world. Phallics symbols, banter, you name it, everything is male dominated. We girls are forever second rate to them, less its in the Medical Corps."

"Well, that definitely should not be the case," Beth said with a slight defiant tone. "We're in the Twentieth Century, not medieval times for cry out loud. And even in those days, there were female warriors like Joan de Arc." Beth had taken a module on Feminism in her freshman year and wrote an essay detailing on how female equality evolved.

"Ma'am, you may aspire to be a Joan, but you'll have to face the AG first. There's a big story about him I'll tell you later. Here we are," she stopped in front of a door with the letters VF-12 stencilled across.

"I thought you were going to show us our quarters first," Mary remarked, her tone indicating some lethargy.

"Your Squadron CO wants to meet you first. Go ahead inside, I'll wait and hold your bags here."

Both new RIOs did so upon the reply "enter" and came face to face with their new Commanding Officer, Commander Steven Bates. "Lieutenant Hawkes and Lieutenant Watkins reporting as ordered, sir!" They both said, standing at attention.

"At ease," Bates said, walking over. Beth judged him to be maybe just under six foot, brown hair with a tinge of grey and extremely muscular arms. The last was evident in his handshake. "Welcome to the Seahawk and the Ghostriders, the best fighter squadron in the fleet." Greetings over, he continued, "I understand you two are in the top ten of your NFO class, congratulations. Class is the easy part; flying is the one that will see what you are made of. You'll have to not just prove that to me but to Grizzly..."

"Talking about me Slider?" Captain Tom Boone said, entering the room. Both Lieutenants immediately snapped back to attention. "So, these are the girls replacing 'Jacko' and 'Ray'?"

"Yes CAG. Lieutenants, this is the CAG, Captain Thomas Boone, call sign 'Grizzly.'". Both RIOs gave a "nice to meet you sir' greeting, but Mary couldn't hello shivering under the sight of the moustached guy. "So, we lose two great RIOs and get two birds in return?" Beth stared ahead, biting her tongue. How dare he call us that?

"I was just telling them that they may have scored well in NFO training but..." Commander Bates was cut off by his boss. "Well, well Lieutenant Elizabeth Hawkes. Gradated summa cum laude, Cornell University, BS. Top Chemistry Student. Second in NFO cohort." Tossing her folder to one side, he continued. "Lieutenant Mary Watkins. Graduated magma cum laude, Carnegie Mellon University, Major in Physics, minor in economics. Fifth in NFO cohort." Tossing that to another side, he looked directly at both officers. "So not only do they post two girls here, but they post two brainy girls over here. You think that's enough to make you the best RIO?"

"Yes, Sir!" Beth suddenly said, causing Mary to widen here eyes and nearly shift backwards. What the heck did you just do?

"That's pretty arrogant, considering you just got here." Boone was now inches away from Beth's face.

"Yes, sir," she said a little softer but still with a confident tone.

"I like that Hawkes. At ease," he commanded and Mary gave a silent word of thanks. Just as she thought it was over, Tom Boone said, "why don't you get started. Slider, get their drivers up. The weather's still good for a sortie or so." After the "Aye, CAG," Tom Boone disappeared.

"Ok Lieutenants, you heard the CAG. Get to your quarters and change out. I'll meet you at the ready room in fifteen and introduce you to your pilots."

To Be Continued.


	3. Chapter 3

**USS Seahawk**

**Somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, South of the Hawaiian Islands**

"Beth…what the hell did you did you get us into?!" Mary Watkins whispered with a exasperating tone, once the two junior RIOs had left the CO's cabin. "We just got here and accepted a challenge from that CAG?!"

"Mary, what challenge. It's just simply a test. And just a chance to show off what we've learnt. He's just another CAG."

"He scares me as a male chauvinist. Seems to look down on us female officers," Mary replied.

"Yeah, he really rattled his first female RIO. She later was murdered and one JAG officer suspected him but it wasn't eventually," LTJG Horricks interjected, as she lead them to their assigned quarters.

"You don't say," Mary remarked. "This is going to be a hell of a posting."

"Mary, look and stay confident." They finally entered their quarters which were standard for any junior naval officer. "I'll catch up with you two later," Lieutenant Horricks said, after giving them a quick run down of their cabins. "Good luck for your first mission."

Both RIOs proceeded to change into their flight suits. Back in the late 1990s, female aviators and flight officers were the minority. So flight suits were flight suits for males. Still, that was not the major issue for the girls. Male fighter pilots could use a crude catheter-like device to relieve themselves in flight. For females, there was no such contraception yet so Beth and Mary used protective underwear—no female wanted to call it the D word. G suits came on, definitely needed in any short or long mission less the aviator black out. The girls had brought along their own helmets—this was one of the few items that could be shaped according to the head size of females. The only thing left was that neither of them had call signs yet. At flight school they were just addressed by their surnames.

Minutes later, they entered the ready room where a quartet of similarly dressed men were chatting and laughing. CO Bates walked in and immediately with an "Attention of Deck!" the room fell silent. "Well, lazing around? We've two new arrivals and the weather out there's still clear. So CAG wants to break them even. This will be a simple mission. Launch with dumy Sidewinders hit Angels fifteen, practice set one maneuvers and head back for the boat. Now, Bear and Crusher, I'd like you to meet your new RIOs."

Beth and Mary saw two of the four men approach. One was about five foot eight, normal build, with brown hair just like Beth. The other was a taller six foot one, blonde hair with extremely muscular build. The two of them hesitated and just stood in front of the two new NFOs initially before Beth extended her hand.

"Elizabeth Hawkes, call me Beth," she said, matching the strong handshakes with a firm grip.

"M..ary Watkins," her friend spluttered, clearing her throat for no particular reason.

"John Rayson, call sign 'Crusher'," the shorter one announced.

"Darren Brown, call sign 'Bear'," the taller guy greeted.

"Geez guys, I hope your responses in the air are much faster than that," the CO remarked. "You have two mikes (minutes) to figure who's paired with who are get out on deck. If not, I'll drag you all personally." He grunted and then left.

"You from the New York State area?" Beth, asked.

"Yeah, Brentwood, your accent doesn't sound…" 'Crusher' replied.

"I lost it during college. I hail from Woodbury."

"Well another East Coaster on board. Maybe you two should pair up," 'Bear' replied.

"Our two minutes are almost up anyway." The pilots and the RIOs shook hands again as the exited and proceeded up the ladders to the flight deck.

"So, why are you called Crusher? Is it because of your er arms?" Beth asked her new pilot, attempting to get to know him further.

"Haha, every nrewbie thinks that. The guys gave me that name because I've the habit of crushing soda cans after drinking them."

"And how about you, 'Bear'? "Mary interjected for the first time. She was still reeling from the series of suddent events: this new posting, the COD landing, the demanding CAG, and now this towering pilot.

"Definitely not my size. Rather, it's my family holiday lodge; there are so many bears around. Anyway, that's the burning question for you two back-seaters: What are your call signs?"

To be continued.


End file.
